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How long it takes to know if a job is right for you or not

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Re: How long it takes to know if a job is right for you or not

#81

Post by pianoben »

throwanem wrote: post #69
pianoben wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the largest codebases I've ever worked on, generating billions in revenue every year to this day, is in Rails. Over a thousand hands have touched it, and none of the original people are still around to hold an empire. I'm with you on the general lack of discipline enforced by Rails; this codebase isn't fun to maintain, precisely for that reason. All the same, I don't think your critique is fair or even that ac…

By the sound of it, your POV working at one big company. The codebases I've worked on that did similar ARR numbers with similar depths of commit history were in Javascript and TypeScript, so "your argument is invalid," right? Why not? It's just what you said and my credentials are better. What's the most in revenue one second of your life was ever worth? For me that's about $35k. But no, you go ahead, try to big leag…

I don't mean to say one of us has better bona-fides, only that there is an existence proof to the contrary of your post. You claim that rails' lack of discipline promotes unmaintainable code shepherded by empire-builders; I claim that this is not always so. I gave the numbers I did to emphasize that rails (and rails shops) can succeed even at that scale.

Not sure what I said that came off as an attack on you or your standing. Not my intent.

Re: How long it takes to know if a job is right for you or not

#82

Post by farts_mckensy »

mlsu wrote: post #76
farts_mckensy wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not difficult to imagine a number of scenarios where that perspective could bite you in the ass. If you have a false impression of a person's character because you've jedi mindtricked yourself into not thinking the worst of people, you might end up trusting an untrustworthy person. If you are in a toxic work environment, and you convince yourself it's not so bad, you might end up staying in a situation that is a…

The counterpoint is that seeing things “as they are” (which is the mind of a depressed person — ask me how I know) can lead you to not give people the benefit of the doubt, it can lead you to be miserly, unmerciful, pessimistic, cowardly. There is always a reason to be distrustful. But the only way good things can happen in your life is to be generous with your spirit and you should seek to do so as a matter of cours…

The problem with these kinds of discussions is, we tend to get more abstract and further and further away from real-world examples. And it all hinges on what you actually value. I could come up with positive adjectives for every single negative attribute you listed. I can only speak for myself when I say that I have never regretted not giving someone the benefit of the doubt. I have regretted the contrary. Good things often just happen to people because of chance, and they attribute it to some mystical property of the universe--generosity of the spirit, for example. Conversely, being generous does not guarantee that good things will happen to you. I'm afraid it's far more random than most are willing to admit.

Re: How long it takes to know if a job is right for you or not

#83

Post by moffkalast »

Vespasian wrote: post #50
farts_mckensy wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the other hand, some studies show that mildly depressed people have a more accurate model of the world. So what if you were right about your job initially, and the CBT is basically just gaslighting you into spinning things in a positive way?

Assuming that is true, does a more negative way of viewing things actually benefit you (even if it would be slightly more "accurate")? If one has a choice (that means if there is no case of clinical depression): At least anecdotally a bit of optimism improves my life quality a lot and results in a higher productivity, proactive solution finding and a more pleasant work environment. Constantly looking at the negative…

The trick is to be positive about yourself and the people you can trust, but slightly negative about the world at large.

Re: How long it takes to know if a job is right for you or not

#84

Post by throwanem »

pianoben wrote: post #81
throwanem wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By the sound of it, your POV working at one big company. The codebases I've worked on that did similar ARR numbers with similar depths of commit history were in Javascript and TypeScript, so "your argument is invalid," right? Why not? It's just what you said and my credentials are better. What's the most in revenue one second of your life was ever worth? For me that's about $35k. But no, you go ahead, try to big leag…

I don't mean to say one of us has better bona-fides, only that there is an existence proof to the contrary of your post. You claim that rails' lack of discipline promotes unmaintainable code shepherded by empire-builders; I claim that this is not always so. I gave the numbers I did to emphasize that rails (and rails shops) can succeed even at that scale. Not sure what I said that came off as an attack on you or your…

You should work on that. Technical discussion would I think better resume from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44254539 But I haven't said no Rails project ever meets its definition of success. I assumed the scare quotes in my earlier comment would suffice to indicate my argument intended to contradict that definition.

Re: How long it takes to know if a job is right for you or not

#85

Post by vermilingua »

moffkalast wrote: post #83
Vespasian wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Assuming that is true, does a more negative way of viewing things actually benefit you (even if it would be slightly more "accurate")? If one has a choice (that means if there is no case of clinical depression): At least anecdotally a bit of optimism improves my life quality a lot and results in a higher productivity, proactive solution finding and a more pleasant work environment. Constantly looking at the negative…

The trick is to be positive about yourself and the people you can trust, but slightly negative about the world at large.

Unfortunately the one of the tricks of severe depression is to make you feel like that circle of people you can trust is ever-shrinking.

Re: How long it takes to know if a job is right for you or not

#86

Post by bluefirebrand »

calrain wrote: post #34

I find that I pick companies to work with when my goals and their goals align. I visualize this alignment like two boats travelling on the ocean together, with a rope that runs between them, connecting them. When the alignment is strong, the tension on the rope is low, and it's a great place to work at. But over time, the direction of either party can change, and it results in a better alignment, or a drift from each…

> The key is to know when the rope is about to break, and then disconnect from that company and start the process again with another company, aligned in your direction

This post helped me a lot tonight, thank you

I've been feeling this tension building like crazy over the past few months as my employer has been pushing AI mandates and metrics hard. It's been making me miserable, my productivity is crashing and I wish I could ask them to just lay me off already so I can move on

I am very discouraged about the job market right now and I do not relish jobhunting at the moment, but I think you're right. It's time to move on for my own sake and try to find something new

Re: How long it takes to know if a job is right for you or not

#88

Post by Krei-se »

MichaelRo wrote: post #54

>> How long does it take to form an impression of a new job? >> Zero. You should give it 0 time. You already know, and you’ve known for a long time; Oh boy, how developers are clinging to the illusion this is still 2021. How long till they interiorize that they are now immigrants crowding at a day laborer site, hoping some farmer with a truck will pick 10-20 of them for a round of picking strawberries. So when you're…

You forget there is a distinction between a plumber and an architect. The plumbers might get streamlined and need to compete, but if you design the whole house, do all the work yourself or know how to manage the contractors you will be totally fine.

I don't want to correct you on your stance, your pov may vary, but i haven't noticed any downsizing in orders and i don't want fearmongering happening here for youngsters.

If you design a clean product and maintain it you will be totally fine - some social skills and experience are ofc what you learn along the way.

There is no data backing up the ever repeating horror stories of mass-layoffs or people not getting hired because some magic AI now does all the job and if you learn the matter you can understand how to leverage these tools and why they will not make you "penniless and desperate" anytime soon.

For me as freelancer what actually was replaced was the farmer - i can have bookkeeping now, marketing and even legal assistance from AI, but i cannot have it do anything over a simple morphism or terminal object without it carrying technical debt 10x what you get when you just code down some manager-wanted functionality (and you may not want to work in places that operate on these hierarchies anyway)

https://www.marketplace.org/story/2025/05/19/can-ai-take-you...

You can keep your fear-first stance here no problem, but it's either misunderstanding of what AI can do or what software engineering is about.

Re: How long it takes to know if a job is right for you or not

#89

Post by bluefirebrand »

parpfish wrote: post #30

i worry that i've job hopped a bit too much and have a series of 2-3yr gigs on my resume. part of my problem is that I get unhappy (or bored) with a job but sit in denial for too long. so by the time I start looking for a new position, I'll desperately jump headfirst into a new gig instead of lining up the perfect gig. Or maybe not. maybe it's impossible to tell if a place is a good fit from the interview.

I'm the same as you. A series of 2-3 year gigs. Some I left because I was bored and not getting any new challenges. Some I was laid off from. Some I left because for some reason everything I enjoyed about the job fell apart. My favorite coworkers left, the executives clawed back all the nice perks, etc

I'm in this situation right now. Just passed the three year mark and the new executive team is starting a rodeo

I honestly feel very down on myself, as if I'm incapable of staying at a job more than 3 years. Like I'm making excuses for moving on, not reacting to a change in reality

Re: How long it takes to know if a job is right for you or not

#90

Post by freddie_mercury »

farts_mckensy wrote: post #42
sour-taste wrote: post #38

This isn't at all a rebuttal of the post, more a different perspective. I started a new job while basically deeply depressed. It colored all my opinions of the company and my coworkers. As I'm coming out of that through a combination of medication and intensive CBT I'm realizing that a lot of the negativity I felt towards my job was the result of the depression. As things improve I'm realizing that the job is mostly…

On the other hand, some studies show that mildly depressed people have a more accurate model of the world. So what if you were right about your job initially, and the CBT is basically just gaslighting you into spinning things in a positive way?

The studies don't show they have a more accurate model of the world. The studies overwhelming only test the immediate judgements of their own behaviour and performance.

The more limited studies with different methodologies have found their judgement of other people's behaviour and performance is wrong. And that if you ask them after a delay (e.g. forcing them to use recall) instead of immediately, they are also wrong.

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